In Photos: Alexa Chung For Chinese Fast Fashion Brand ME&CITY

S/S 2012 Collection Shot By Feng Zhikai

Alexa Chung for ME&CITY

British “It Girl” Alexa Chung returns for another season as the face of the Chinese fast fashion label ME&CITY. (The more upmarket sister company of mass-market brand Metersbonwe.) Having previously modeling for the Autumn/Winter 2011 collection, photographed by Feng Zhikai (冯志凯), the TV figure and style icon is spotted pool- and ocean-side in cool, bold colors for the Spring/Summer 2012 campaign again lensed by Feng.

ME&CITY’S second collaboration with Chung showcases yet another example of the the brand’s continuous efforts to invest in well-known Western faces for its ads and campaigns to lure in shoppers. Last year ME&CITY teamed up with Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, daughter of Carine Roitfeld, to create a rock-and-roll inspired 20-piece capsule collection for the winter 2011 collection, photographed by Mei Yuan Gui. In 2010, British celebrities Orlando Bloom and Agyness Deyn modeled for the brand’s spring 2010 collection, shot by photographer Terry Richardson, and in 2009, ME&CITY signed American actor Wentworth Miller, star of the American television show “Prison Break,” as the face of its inaugural campaign.

Self-proclaimed as China’s only “premium” fast fashion brand, targeting middle class, twenty- to thirty-something white collar professionals, ME&CITY has opened more than 85 locations throughout China, seeing some of its greatest success in internationally unexplored second-tier cities. However, with an inherent home-court disadvantage, ME&CITY certainly still has its work still cut out when competing with the likes of H&M, Uniqlo, and Zara. Moreover, as foreign brands such as J. Crew begin to tap into China’s fast fashion market via e-commerce, ME&CITY along with other rising contenders like URBANEIGTHDAY will have to up their game to stay competitive. Meaning, ME&CITY may have to continue focusing more on their branding than the product. This is all to say that this will probably not be the last time we see Ms. Chung in China.